Tracy
Jo Shine was born on 12/7/62 and was murdered
by her boyfriend, Michael Durwood Neal on or
about August 8, 1987. He supposedly
dismembered her and put her in a 55 gallon
drum full of acid. He has been in prison since
1985 for another attempted murder and talked
about Tracy's murder, but thought that since we
didn't have a body, we couldn't do
anything.

However,
the Harris County Sheriff's Department Cold
Crime Squad finally was able to get some DNA
results from a single hair found in the
refrigerator that contained Tracy's body
originally. The grand jury finally
indicted Neal in March of 2000. The
trial date was set for November 28, 2000,
before Judge Joan Campbell, 248th Criminal
District Court, Harris County, Texas. In
January 2001, Michael Neal, 44, already
serving a life sentence for aggravated
assault, pleaded guilty to the murder Tracy Jo
Shine and got a 45-year sentence.

Michael
Neal has spent most of his life in prison and
had only been released in January of 1985 when
my daughter met him. By August of that year
she was dead.

Tracy
loved unicorns and her favorite color was
yellow. Tracy was involved in the Brownies and
Junior Girl Scouts. Tracy took jazz dancing
for many years as a child and went to the High
School of Performing and Visual Arts in the
10th grade. She was very passionate about her
dancing and loved dogs.

Unfortunately,
Tracy began taking drugs while attending HSPVA
and from that point own had a very turbulent
life. She was having a real problem with drugs
when she was murdered but if Tracy's life was
not taken, she might have had a chance to
clean up her life and return to the sweet
person she was before. Now she will never have
the chance.

Sweet
Angel of CompassionYou heard our heartfelt
pleasAsking for your presenceWe're down
on bended kneesWatching so much
sorrowEach day will just bring moreHold
us with your loving wingsSaddened hearts
imploreCome and hold us
closelyWe need you by our sideComfort
and console usWith dawn each day we
cryWe need your gentle
softnessTo help us all get throughKnow
you are a gift of GodHis mission just for
youOverwhelmed with love
nowYou've come to us this dayGentle soft
sweet whispersYour floral gift's
sachetFlowers in the breeze
you bringThey fall from heaven's
lightGift of love you're sending
nowCompassion through the
night.

~ Francine Pucillo ~Šused
with permission

News
Articles

3/10/88Aryan group member gets life term in
shooting case

An
Aryan Brotherhood member suspected of
dissolving a murdered woman's body in acid
last year was sentenced Wednesday to life in
prison for shooting a man in the nose. Jurors
in state District Judge Woody Densen's court
sentenced two-time ex-convict Michael Durwood
Neal, 32. Neal is also under a 20-year
sentence in Brazoria County for delivery of
drugs. Neal's latest sentence was for the
unexplained shooting of David Kirkland, 41, in
the nose Aug. 31 in a trailer off Hempstead
Highway. Prosecutor Glenn Gotschall said
Kirkland slipped just as Neal was firing the
pistol, narrowly escaping a much more serious
wound. Last Friday, Kirkland, an employee of
Neal's brother-in-law, signed a document
saying he wanted to drop attempted murder
charges, but Gotschall went to trial anyway.
Police said Neal is a prime suspect in the
Aug. 15 murder and dismemberment of a woman
identified only as Tracy Jo Shine , whose body
was subsequently dissolved in acid from an
illicit drug laboratory. Details about Shine
's death were not available.

10/16/99

Grand jury indicts inmate in'87 slaying of
girlfriend

A Harris County man already serving a life
sentence for aggravated assault was indicted
Friday in the 1987 mutilation murder of his
girlfriend. New
information from witnesses that matched old
leads and possible DNA evidence links Michael
Neal to the Aug. 12, 1987, death of Tracy Jo
Shine, said Harris County Sheriff's Lt. Bert
Diaz. Diaz and prosecutor Steve Baldassano
said authorities believe Shine, 24, was killed
- they are unsure how - in a house she shared
with Neal in the 7900 block of Machala in
northwest Harris County. Her body was put in a
car and taken to a car lot at FM 1960 and
Jones Road, investigators said. Neal , now 43,
then went to a hardware store and bought saws
and muriatic acid. The body was dismembered
and the remains sealed in an acid-filled steel
drum and disposed of in an unknown location,
Diaz said. Diaz said detectives believe Neal ,
at the time a drug dealer, killed Shine
because he believed, wrongly, that she was a
police informant. Neal has denied involvement
in Shine's death, Diaz said. Her remains have
never been found. But in the past 10 months,
the sheriff's "cold case squad" has
found new leads indicating that Neal bragged
about killing Shine, Diaz said. That
information "enhanced" evidence
gathered in 1987, when Neal was considered a
suspect. It's also possible that DNA evidence
left in a kitchen freezer can link Neal to the
murder, Diaz said. Neal , who has an extensive
criminal record, is eligible for parole in
2007 on the assault conviction, Diaz said.

01/09/01Prisoner pleads guilty in girlfriend's '87
killing

A
Harris County man pleaded guilty to murder
Monday after leading authorities to a garbage
receptacle where his girlfriend's body was
disposed of in 1987. Michael Neal , 44,
already serving a life sentence for aggravated
assault, was sentenced to 45 years for the
Aug. 12, 1987, murder of Tracy Jo Shine. The
latest term is to be served concurrently with
the life sentence, which means instead of
being eligible for parole in 2007, Neal will
have to serve a minimum of about another 10
years. In the last year, new leads developed
in the case, including new methods of DNA
testing that showed that a refrigerator
confiscated from Neal 's home once contained
Shine's body. Also, there were indications
that Neal bragged about the killing.
Prosecutor Steve Baldassano said Neal on
Monday took them to a strip shopping center
near Jones Road and FM 1960, where several
trash-collection companies once had garbage
bins. A check with one company revealed the
body most likely was taken to a city landfill.
The chances of recovery would be costly and
not likely to yield anything because so much
time has elapsed. Authorities believe Shine,
24, was killed - they are unsure how - in a
house she shared with Neal in the 7900 block
of Machala in northwest Harris County.
Although Neal , who has a long criminal
history, denied any involvement, Harris County
"cold case" detectives believed Neal
, at the time a drug dealer, killed Shine
because he thought she was a police informant.
The defense lawyer refused to comment on the
case.